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F. GRINNELL. Automatic Fire Extinguisher,

No. 23l',716I Patented Aug. 31,1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,716, dated August 31, 1880.

Application filed December 27, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK GRINNELL, of the city and county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire- Extinguishers, and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of thesanie, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in automatic fire-extinguishers in which the outlet is closed and automatically opened by the heat of a fire; and itcon'sists in an automatic tire extinguisher consisting, essentially, in the combination, with a perforated distributer, of a valve located within said perforated distributer and provided with a stem which projects through the shell of the dis tributer, and a cap serving to hold the valvestem in place, the cap being secured by fusible solder.

Figure 1 is a view, partly in section, of one kind of distributer, within which a valve is secured, resting on a seat made by screwing a bushing into the neck of the distributer after the valve is inserted. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section, of another kind of rosedistributer, in which the valve-seat is formed within the rose and the rose is made in two pieces, so that the valve can be inserted and the stem secured by some low-fusible material. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, of a distributer in which a revolving ring surrounds a central tube provided with ports. In the central tube a valve-seat is formed, and the other end of the central tube is closed with a cap, which also holds the revolving ring in plaee,'and to this cap the valve-stem is secured by some lowfusible material.

In the drawings, A is the distributer. A are the two A! parts of a distributer when made so as to be taken apart for the insertion of the valve. 1) is the valve-seat; 0, the valvestem. d is the portion of the distributer to which the valve-stem is secured by a low-fusible solder. f is a bushing screwed into the neck of the distributer to form a valve-seat, so that the distributor may be made in one piece, the valveinserted, and the bushfscrewed into the neck to form the seat for the valve.

Automatic fire-extinguishers may be used with the water or other extinguishing agent always in the system of pipes by the same with an elevated tank or with streetinains. They may also be arranged so that no water or other agent is kept in the pipe, and that in case of a fire the watersupply from the street-mains, a tank, frorna pump, or other source, is connected with the system. In the event of a fire breaking out, in the first case the action of the extinguishers is truly automatic, and in the second case so far automatic that the distributers'only in close proximity to the fire will have been automatically opened by the melting ofthe fusible material or solder, and all the force of the water or other extinguishing agent will be concentrated on the fire, as all the distributors not affected by the heat will be firmly closed.

Afterthe fire, distributers in which the valves are secured by fusible solder will have to be secured to the outlets in place of those that have become unsoldered; and as the safety and success of the automatic fire-extinguisher depend on the fusibilit T of the solder by which the valve is secured at a fixed temperature, it is important that the soldering should be done by a cautious and trustworthy person at a place where all the means to ascertain the temperature at which the fusible material will melt can be repeatedly tested. Such devices must therefore be often sent great distances and have to be secured to the pipes by inexperienced persons.

To bring the wh ole apparatus into the smallest possible compass and prevent injury to the valve or seal, while the whole may be simply screwed to the end of a pipe, is the aim of this invention.

The different valves shown may all be tightened by either screwing down the portion to which the valvestem is secured or by screwing the bushing f against the valve, so as to make a tightjoint.

The valve-stem may be secured by a cap, g, extending over the end of the stem and secured to the portion (1 by fusible solder; or a strip of metal may be secured to the distributer by fusible solder and extend over the end of the yalve-stem. The valve-stem may also be loosely jointed to the valve-disk, so that the connecting disk can adjust itself to the seat and allow the valve-disk to rotate without injuring the soldered joint.

As no water can come near the point where the valve-stem is secured by solder, the same will melt more readily, and the operation will be more sensitive than when water surrounds the fusible solder or is near the same, as is usually the case in automatic tire-extinguishers in which afusible material is used as a seal or to secure a seal.

I make no broad claim to the combination, with a perforated (ilSt1lb11t61,Of a valve located within the distributer and held to its place by fusible solder.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut- 1. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the

combination, with a perforated distributer attached to the end of a discharge-pipe, of a valve located within said perforated distributer and provided with a stem which projects through the shell of the distributer, and a cap serving to hold the valve-stein in place, said cap secured by fusible solder, substantially as set forth.

2. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination, with a perforated distributer attached to the end of the discharge-pipe, of the valve 1) and valve-stem 0, both located within said distributer, and bush f, the latter screwed into the neck of the distribnter to form a valveseat, substantially as set forth.

FREDERICK GRINNELL.

Witnesses:

JosEPH A. MILLER, HARMON S. BABCOGK. 

